AZhiker

So sorry you are going through this. Sounds like he is experiencing a lot of anxiety/depression but doesn't know how to work through it except by being passive/aggressive toward you and hurting himself. If he won't see a counsellor, maybe you can go by yourself to learn how to deal with this. You are becoming a new person, but you sure didn't expect hubby to become a new person, too, in the worst way. I really feel for you. I bet others have had unexpected reactions from their spouses as well. It's almost as if he sees you taking control of your life and making amazing changes and this somehow threatens him because now HE is the vulnerable one and now HIS issues look even more magnified. Please consider seeing someone for YOU! And hang in there! Don't let his behavior undermine your success and your new journey.

And it could just be a "bug" that is passing through. Another possibility is that if you ate a lot of fruit without a meal on board first, or at least some protein, you had a little dumping from the sugar. Always eat small amounts of fruit after a meal as a dessert, or with protein like yoghurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc.

I was so ashamed before surgery that I did not even take measurements or a picture. However..... I have gone from a 42DD to a 36B! And from pant size 24 to 12, which I am wearing today for the first time! And WHITE at that! (Mama said to never wear white - it would make me look fat. Like black made me look skinny?????) Woo Hoo! I am very happy with those measurements!

appendix? Complication from your surgery? You need to call your doctor and maybe get it checked out in the ER.

You are right. Carbs should be the last thing added to the menu. A little fruit (with protein - like berries in yoghurt) would be a carb source until closer to maintenance.

Thanks! Just placed my order. Can't beat that deal.

I stocked up on chocolate Premier Protein shakes pre-op. After surgery they tasted so sweet I couldn't stand them, and poor hubby had to take them back to Costco. However, 2 months later they tasted great again and are now my go-to for a handy shake I can take to work when I don't get a lunch break. I was a really big coffee drinker. I switched to decaf prior to surgery, but now I can't stand any coffee at all. Doesn't even taste like coffee. BUT..... I love herb teas now. Green tea used to taste so bitter and astringent, but now tastes sweet. Used to love cod and eggs (I have my own chickens so the eggs are delicious), but just can't eat much of either now. My tummy revolts. BUT... I love salmon and calf liver. Both are easily tolerated. So go figure. Things change, but change isn't bad - just different. You will discover your "new you" after surgery and that includes new taste buds!

Optisource (for bariatric patients) from Walgreens. Chewable tabs. Cost is about $1/day. I get my labs done next week so I will see how effective this brand is.

Try cream of rice and see what happens. That might tell you if it is the wheat or the texture.

Your pre-op endoscope is a very important piece of information. If there is already gastritis, esophagitis, or any any indication of Barrett's, all of which would point to a problem with reflux, then bypass may be a better option. I actually had a Barrett's polyp - a pre-cancerous lesion from chronic GERD. (I never knew my GERD was that bad, but the Barretts and my vocal hoarseness said otherwise.) Anyway, my GERD is completely gone after bypass. I get another endoscope in a few months to check out the situation. I am so glad I went this route. All being said, your endoscope results are important.

Looking back at my food journal, I was eating about 450 cal/day at 5 weeks. I still feel full quickly, but can definitely eat twice as much now. However, make the most of the first 6 months. This is the time when the bulk of your weight will come off. Once the restriction lets up and hunger returns, the battle is much harder, as many of my Feb 2019 buddies are also finding. Embrace the restriction now. It is the gift that surgery gives you and it won't last forever.

I definitely felt weakness in the first month, but got right into a good walking routine. Now with 90+ pounds gone, I feel like super woman. I have soooo much energy. My strength is back full steam and my exercise is soooo much easier. I climb stairs, do weights, and hike. Once some significant weight comes off you will be amazed at what you will be able to do. Now when I lift 40-50 pound bags of livestock feed, I cannot believe I was carrying twice that much on my body. My joints DO NOT HURT ANYMORE! That is also amazing. My only "tip" is to get walking right away. You can climb stairs but will not be allowed to do abdominal crunches or lift hardly anything for several weeks, at least. Please do not rush this part. A hernia is the last thing you want. The tiny cuts on the outside do not even begin to show all the work done on the inside. You must give yourself time to heal well or the set back will be worse than the original surgery. Please let your doctor know you are into heavy lifting so he/she can advise you with full knowledge of your activity level.

I am going through the same thing. I can eat a meal and then just want more. The head hunger is getting hard to fight. I am snacking way too much. Although my food choices are fine, it is still feeling a bit out of control and that scares me. I've stalled for the past 2 weeks, which is no surprise. My exercise is fine, but my eating is not. My plan is to get back to tracking every bite and maybe even cut back to the extreme - like 400 cal/day (similar to what I was eating the week after surgery) and up it by 100 every week. If I lose 2 pounds per week, I should be a goal by the time I am back up to 1,000 cal/day. I don't want my metabolism to drop into starvation/survival mode, so I am hoping the exercise will prevent that. I am so close to goal, but these last 20 pounds are proving to be the hardest.

I haven't lost much in the past 2 weeks, but I did fit pretty well into size 12 jeans today. Haven't worn 12 since junior high. So down from 24 to 12 is just amazing to me. It's still so hard to get used to looking at the "new me."

I had the same. Getting out of bed was really hard - thought I would rip apart. I used a small, very firm pillow to support my tummy every time I changed position, got out of bed, stood up, or rode in the car ( we have a bumpy road). I basically carried my pillow buddy with me everywhere for at least a couple of weeks. The pain gradually gets better.

You just have to try other options. I couldn't eat tomatoes for a long time. But pea soup was fine and lentil soup (you can puree) was great. Bean soup was also a winner. Later, once advanced to soft foods, I would take refried beans and mix them with broth to thin them down. This slides down really well. Make it even thinner and you can call it soup!

So glad the surgery is over and that you are doing so well. We look forward to hearing about your progress in the journey of your new life,

prunes, peaches, apricots for constipation.

This is the stage where you build the confidence to know that you CAN and WILL do this! You are getting set for a whole new life and you must be determined. Develop a mantra like, "I AM NEVER GOING BACK!" You are never going back to a life of obesity and all it's related quilt, shame, co-morbidities, discomfort and future incapacities. You are starting a whole new chapter and YOU CAN DO THIS! One day at a time. After surgery it will also be one day at a time. Pre-op is the time to clean up your eating, get rid of addictive things you can't have after surgery anyway, and get some pounds off. It is hard because you still have hunger hormones in play, and you don't have restriction yet...….. but YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! And after this pre-op stage, you can do anything!

So sorry. Please get better fast!

Tucson, AZ with cabin in Flagstaff. Any AZ buddies who want to go for a hike/walk?

11. Embracing my veggies.

BlueAngelEyes, I am so sorry you have family members who are undermining your success. For some reason they want you to fail, or else they think THEY will be embarrassed if you gain the weight back! Please try to find one or two friends you can TRUST to have your best interests in mind and who will support you. Being said, I have found that even my few close friends who know about my surgery really don't want to hear about it every day. They like to know I'm losing, but not totally into hearing me out about struggles. That is where this forum is so good. Exercise has a couple of really good benefits after surgery. First (maybe the most important), it gives YOU control. You cannot know what your pain will be like or what your food tolerances will be, how long it will take to progress from stage to stage, what your emotional fluctuations will be like, how your healing will progress, or if your weight will come off slowly or quickly. You have no control over those things. BUT.. you CAN have true control over exercise goals. It gives such a sense of accomplishment and empowerment, and helps divert the tendency to form new addictions. Exercise can become your new obsession/addiction (a lot better than buying shoes, drinking, or gambling!) Get yourself an inexpensive step tracker. I think mine cost $29 on Amazon. It is a highly motivating little friend. Start wearing it now to see what your baseline is. Work up to 10,000 steps a day. After surgery, start right up with walking, walking, walking. Get up to 10,000 steps as soon as you can do so comfortably. (Several of us here were up to 10,000 by the end of week 2.) Start taking a walk every single day. As the weight comes off, you will go further and faster. It's just amazing to see progress. I also started wall pushups 3 times a day. Started at 25 per set, and now do 50 per set. Later, I got 3 pound weights and started an upper body strengthening routine. I also incorporated stair climbing. Anyway, exercise is such a great tool for your MIND as well as your body. It will reduce depression and anxiety, as well. You start out with small goals, and track them daily - just like your food. Exercise also helps you set up a pattern of activity that you can maintain for the rest of your life. You have to make major changes in your diet and lifestyle if you are going to keep the weight off. You have a wonderful took with WLS, BUT after the "Honeymoon" period (a year, give or take), hunger can come back and restriction will not be so noticeable. You HAVE to have your lifestyle, dietary, and mental habits in place and well established if you want to succeed longterm. (I HAVE done the research and this is what everyone says.) OK, for diet - start making modifications NOW. GIve up the addictions you can't have after surgery. I think this is another key to feeling better after surgery. Surgery and recovery is hard enough by itself. You don't need to be going through withdrawal at the same time! For me, that meant caffeine, sugar, soda, all processed food, anything artificial. (My goal was to make every bite post-op, and for the rest of my life as nutritionally dense and healthy as possible.) Of course, smoking and alcohol would be in there, too. I saw how much better I felt, and again, it gave me control. Even in the hospital, I did not eat the jello or weird protein supplement that was full of artificial sweetener/ flavors. I had herbal tea, broth, and my own protein shake that I knew I liked. That was just fine. I was the first one of the surgery group that day who was out of bed and walking! Soooo...….. in my opinion, you have 2 things to focus on - your diet, of course, Getting your fluids and protein in will be the first goals. But exercise can start on day one. It will help prevent complications, boost your metabolism, give you more energy, help beat depression/anxiety, give you control and empowerment, and set you up for long term success. I promise that you will have struggles with eating. Everyone does. A LOT of your focus and frustration will revolve around eating. Exercise is actually a lot easier in the sense that it is predicatable and controllable. It helps you feel positive about SOMETHING, even on the worst of days. Above all, don't listen to the naysayers. They are already experts on WLS, right? You have to take control over YOU, in spite of what any one else says. Surgery is for YOU - not for them. Stick with the forum support. We are all here for you.

I eat very small amounts of grain carbs at this point (5.5 months out) because as I get closer to goal, the weight loss is slowing down. I want to save the carbs for maintenance phase. I will eat rice cakes once in a while, or a little bit of cooked quinoa or rice, but that's about it. I might have a corn tortilla very very rarely. I have had an occasional piece of gluten free bread or some GF spaghetti. My highest carb intake is from fruit, some beans and lentils. I look forward to adding more whole grains back into my diet, but that is for later, when I can afford the extra calories. I think you need to be pretty careful in the beginning so you don't jeaprodize your weight loss. Just getting enough protein is challenge enough, and then adding veggies, legumes, nuts/seeds, and a little fruit. Starches should be the very last thing to add. Of course, a very little bit once in while is not really going to hurt anything as long as it doesn't set you up for over indulging.

Keep pressing on. It gets better and better. I am so glad for your encouraging weight loss.